If Uefa awarded football tournaments to countries on the basis of how well their governments treated sports people, then Ireland's bid to co-host Euro 2008 with Scotland would coast home on Thursday.

As it stands, Ireland's lack of a national soccer stadium may contrive to scupper the Celtic bid and tilt the odds in favour of Austria and Switzerland's proposal. If the event does bypass the British Isles this time, it won't be the fault of Irish premier Bertie Ahern.

When Uefa's inspectors were doubtful about Ireland's ability to deliver on two stadiums for the event, it was Manchester United fan Ahern who was on the phone, personally guaranteeing that the grounds would materialise. Similarly, when Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell seemed to be having cold feet about the bid last year, Ahern put in a call to his Edinburgh office to coax him back onside.

'Sports loving' is how his official spokesperson refers to him, but 'sports mad' is the opposition's sardonic description. Ahern's eager courting of sports personalities and events, such as last week's Collins Cup tennis tournament in Dublin, doesn't appear to have any real basis in vote catching. The public response to proposals to host Euro 2008 has at best been lukewarm. But then his critics argue that Ahern doesn't take a great deal of notice of his electorate when pursuing his sporting interests.

Ireland's economy may be teetering on the brink of recession, but it hasn't affected the tax breaks that the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, golfer Padraig Harrington and racing driver Eddie Irvine enjoy, courtesy of the Republic's exchequer.

Under legislation introduced by Ahern's government last year, when sports people retire they are able to claim back 40 per cent of the income tax they paid during the most lucrative 10 years of their career.

Similarly, Sir Alex and other bloodstock owners in Ireland continue to benefit from a waiving of all taxes on stud fees. As co owners of Rock Of Gibraltar, the United boss and his multi-millionaire friend, John Magnier, can expect to make around £5 million tax free per year from the stallion, which was put to stud this year and could feasibly remain there for another 20 years.

There was speculation that Ahern and his racing fanatic Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, might use the occasion of last week's Budget to rescind this perk in the face of economic gloom and cuts to health and education programmes. But they didn't, leading one opposition leader to remark that stallions and their owners could sleep easy in Ireland, but watch out the poor. 'It is completely inappropriate for a small number of very rich individuals to avoid paying tax like this. The country is a laughing stock,' said Pat Rabbitte, leader of the Labour party.

It was actually one of Ahern's predecessors, Charlie Haughey, who introduced the tax breaks on stud fees. He once famously described Ahern as 'the most cunning, the most ruthless, the most brilliant of them all', but, with his dogged pursuit of a stadium in his own name, the current Prime Minister might have inflicted substantial electoral damage on his party.

The Irish public is used to the image of Ahern, the sporting premier. He can't get enough of being photographed in his football jerseys, be they United, Dublin or even Hull City, for whom he's also declared a fondness.

He has appeared as a pundit on Ireland's equivalent of Match of the Day, and when Roy Keane threw his tantrum in the Far East and was sent home from the Republic's World Cup camp, Ahern offered to intervene as mediator.

His love of sport is a quirk then, tolerated by the public, and up until now it does not appear to have affected his general standing; opinion polls at one point recorded that he was the most popular leader Ireland has ever had. But his star has dimmed recently and part of the reason is his refusal to abandon plans to build a national sports stadium, the so-called 'Bertie bowl', in face of public apathy about the project.

At present the ground that Ahern has promised to himself and the Irish public for the past six years is just a pipe dream and threatens to remain so. Still, a site on the outskirts of Dublin has been selected and plans for the €1 billion (£620 million) complex drawn up.

With his government's coalition partners refusing to free up any funds for the project, racing magnate J.P. McManus, Celtic tycoon Dermot Desmond and his business partner Magnier are among those who have reportedly been approached to invest.

But at this point only winning the Euro 2008 bid is likely to push through the stadium, hence Ahern's careful nurturing of the project. On Uefa's decision on Thursday will rest the project's future and ultimately Ahern's legacy.